Trout and Salmon harvest  in the Opihi Catchment.
Mark Webb, Fish and Game Officer. 

This fishing season Central South Island Fish and Game is undertaking a major survey to estimate the number of trout and salmon caught in the Opihi catchment and to do this we please ask for the help of a large number of local anglers of which you may be one.

The survey involves telephone interview of different random selections of licence holders through the October 2007 to April 2008 season to gather information about where, when and with what success they may have fished the waters of the Opihi catchment in the previous fortnight.

We know that the 3,500 anglers who live in the Timaru, Fairlie or Geraldine areas contribute about three-quarters of all fishing activity on the Opihi River, its tributaries and Lake Opuha. To reduce costs and increase the accuracy of the survey we are concentrating on these anglers.

A telephone survey takes only a few minutes per angler, avoids intruding on them while they fish, and is an accurate method of interviewing anglers provided we don’t leave it too long after their fishing to call them. A different random selection of anglers is made for each survey so the burden doesn’t fall on just a few and for most there may be only one interview although a few anglers may be interviewed two or more times. The telephone survey is about one-tenth of the cost of interviewing anglers while they fish the several hundred kilometers of riverbank and shoreline available.

While the Opihi survey has a local focus on trout and salmon catch a much larger national angling survey is being undertaken to assess fishing activity right across the country. This survey is undertaken every seven years with anglers asked through the season where they fished in the previous two months.  Because of its size and two-month period this survey can only estimate angler activity and does not attempt to estimate fish catch.

If you are called on a Sunday or Monday evening and asked about your recent Opihi fishing trips please oblige. The information you give is strictly confidential. If you are contacted for both surveys please be patient, this can’t be helped with random surveys. The important thing to remember is that the information you provide will contribute to better catch management and protection of the Opihi fisheries.
Thank you.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Mark Webb.
Ph 03 6158400, Fax 03 6158401,  Email mwebb@fishandgame.org.nz

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